Orchid compound fights lung cancer by cleaning up cell power plants
Li X, Han M, Zhang L, Xie X, Li C
Medicinal Plants
The showy Chinese ground orchid grown in shade gardens for its purple spring blooms turns out to be a source of compounds researchers are mining for cancer-fighting potential.
Scientists pulled a molecule called Gymconopin C from Bletilla striata, an orchid often grown as a garden ornamental, and tested it against lung cancer cells. The compound slowed cancer growth by triggering the cells to break down their own damaged mitochondria, a kind of internal cleanup that starved the tumor of energy. The effect held up in both lab dishes and living animal models, including zebrafish and mice.
Key Findings
Gymconopin C inhibited proliferation, migration and invasion of NSCLC cell lines and increased apoptosis in A549 cells
The compound activated PINK1/Parkin-mediated mitophagy via a miR-6777-5p/ADRB2 signaling axis
Therapeutic effects were confirmed in vivo using zebrafish xenograft and murine ectopic tumor models
chevron_right Technical Summary
A compound from the orchid Bletilla striata was found to fight non-small cell lung cancer by triggering cells to clean out damaged mitochondria, slowing tumor growth in both lab and animal tests.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Gymconopin C exhibits anti-non-small cell lung cancer effect by regulating miR-6777-5p/ADRB2 pathway to promote mitophagy.
Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality from malignant tumors in China with therapeutic limitations. Developing novel therapeutic agents and innovati...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
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Bletilla striata, known as hyacinth orchid or Chinese ground orchid, is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae, native to Japan, Korea, Myanmar (Burma), and China. It is most commonly found growing in clumps alongside grassy slopes with sandy soil.